Chorizo, Spinach And Cheese Muffins

April 29, 2012

I’m on a quest, well I have been for a few years now, for the perfect savoury muffin.  I want good savoury muffins not only to have stored in the freezer for kids lunch boxes but also to serve warm alongside a big bowl of winter soup.

There are a few good savoury muffins that I turn to but I’m still experimenting.  This recipe is from Home Beautiful magazine and I just love the addition of chorizo.  I first made them to have with a bowl of white bean soup and it was a perfect pairing.  The leftovers were frozen for lunch boxes but to be honest they aren’t moving.

The freezer is topped up every weekend with muffins, banana bread, pikelets, breadrolls and sandwiches etc so that the kids can just grab something for morning tea and something for lunch.  Levi thought the muffins warm from the oven were incredibly  delicious so I thought for sure he would pop them in his lunch box but maybe they just aren’t enticing when frozen – therefore my quest continues.  Perhaps the lesson here is I need fewer sweet options in the freezer. But I do think that these muffins are best eaten warm from the oven with a little salted butter.  Pretty hard to beat.

chorizo, spinach and cheese muffins

(from Home Beautiful magazine March, 2012)

1 chorizo sausage, finely chopped
1 red capsicum, seeded and finely chopped
2 cups thinly sliced spinach
2 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup grated tasty cheese
1 egg
1 cup milk
125g melted butter, cooled

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.  Line a muffin tin with 12 muffin paper cases.

Heat a large, non-stick frypan over medium heat and cook the chorizo and capsicum for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Tip onto a plate lined with kitchen paper.  Add the spinach to the hot pan and cook for a couple of minutes or until wilted.  Set aside to cool slightly.

Sift flour and baking powder into a large bowl.  Add the cheese, chorizo, capsicum and spinach. Mix together and make a well in centre.

Whisk together the egg, milk and melted butter and pour into the well.  Mix everything until just combined, being careful not to overmix.  Divide the batter between the muffin cases and bake for 20 – 25 minutes.

Posted in Afternoon Tea, Baking, Lunch, School Lunches, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Hot Cross Buns

March 30, 2012

Deep breathe.  Term one is over and I have one very tired 5 year old, one sick 7 year old and one recovering 9 year old.  We have made it to the holidays so I can breathe a sigh of relief and we can take it easy for the next couple of weeks.

There are so many things at this time of year that I look forward to.  The cool change in the air is very welcome.  After hot summers the slightly cooler weather makes everything look so much more inviting – picnics, baking, cups of tea, going for walks.  I also look forward to Easter, birthdays and all the foodie magazines that are filled with menu ideas for the Easter weekend and loads of chocolate recipes.  Bliss.

To kick this Easter off I have finally got a good recipe for Hot Cross Buns in my repertoire thanks to Julie Goodwin’s latest book ‘The Heart Of The Home’.  It is fairly straightforward and doesn’t require a huge amount of time kneading or rising.  I can have a batch done in 2 hours and most of that time is the rising and the baking.  They are light and fluffy with the perfect amount of spices and sweetness.

I don’t think I will ever buy Hot Cross Buns again.  I cannot fault this recipe and to pull a hot batch out of your own oven is intoxicating.  They just need to be glazed and then the kettle can go on.  Elliott has helped me make several batches over the last few weeks and we have loved the baking and the eating.  We even made a Chocolate Chip version which the kids thought were spectacular.  But even the kids who don’t know normally like sultanas in hot cross buns loved them in the home made version.

After such a busy term it will be nice to bake a few more batches over the holidays, make a pot of tea and catch up with friends.  The perfect time of year to pull out the chook tea cosy!

hot cross buns

(a slight variation of Julie Goodwin’s recipe from ‘The Heart Of The Home’)

1 1/4 cups (310ml) milk
1/4 cup (55g) caster sugar
16g dried yeast
4 cups (600ml) plain flour (I use unbleached bakers flour)
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons mixed spice
1 teaspoon salt
60g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups (250g) sultanas
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup (40g) self-raising flour

glaze

2 tablespoons hot water
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1/3 teaspoon gelatine

Warm up the milk then stir in the sugar and yeast then set aside for 5 – 10 minutes or until it froths up.

Place the flour, cinnamon, mixed spice and salt in a large bowl and whisk together briefly.  Add the butter and rub it into the flour with your fingertips.  Mix through the sultanas and make a well in the centre.  Pour in the yeast mixture and the eggs.  Stir together with a woooden spoon then tip out onto a lightly floured board and knead for 5 minutes or until smooth.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm room for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.  Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead for just a minute then divide up into individual sized buns.  The recipe suggest it makes a dozen but I make 16 smaller buns which is perfect.  Form each piece into a nice round bun and place on a lined baking tray.  Arrange them in lines and keep the buns fairly close to each other.  Cover with a clean towel and leave them for 15 minutes.

Mix the self-raising flour in a small bowl with a couple of tablespoons of water.  Place in a little plastic bag, snip a tiny piece out of a bottom corner and pipe this paste on the buns to form a cross on each one.  Pop the buns in the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until cooked and sound hollow when tapped.

To make the glaze, dissolve the sugar and gelatine in the hot water and use a pastry brush to brush over the top of the hot buns.  Leave for 5 minutes to allow the glaze to set and then serve.

Posted in Afternoon Tea, Baking, Bread, Easter | 9 Comments

Duck And Mango Salad

March 24, 2012

Too many busy weekends have passed since we all sat down in the backyard and shared this amazing Duck and Mango salad.  I don’t like it when life gets so busy that we have no time on a weekend to have a leisurely meal that we as a family can make together.  But it is Saturday morning and besides dropping one kid to a birthday party and casting our vote in the State election, our weekend is looking beautifully free and I might fire up the Weber later.  Elliott has just requested that we make a gingerbread house this morning but that isn’t what I had in mind.

We might be pushing our luck to do a repeat of the Duck and Mango salad as the mango season has come to an end.  I think the mango could be substituted with a ripe papaya but nothing beats mango.   Best to wait until mangoes are ripe, plentiful and cheap again.

Now Chinese roast ducks aren’t cheap but it is worth buying for this salad.  We picked up one from Chinatown and had it chopped up so it was easy to add to the salad.  The whole recipe was whipped up and on the table in less then 15 minutes and everyone had little jobs to do – shaking the jar of dressing, picking the herbs, washing the salad leaves and sprouts.  A family effort which produced one incredibly, impressive meal.  Next time I will add some roughly chopped roasted nuts or crispy, fried shallots to complete.

duck and mango salad

(a slight adaptation to Annabel Langbein’s recipe from ‘Free Range In The City”)

1 roasted duck,
100g snow peas, sliced on the diagonal
2 large ripe mangoes, peeled and chopped
2 ripe avocados, peeled and chopped
1 red capsicum, deseeded and finely sliced
2 spring onions, finely sliced
150g baby spinach
1/4 cup of mint, roughly chopped
1/4 cup of coriander, roughly chopped
1 cup of mung bean sprouts

ginger sesame dressing

1/4 cup lime juice
2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 small red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (I only used a tiny bit of chilli so the kids would eat the salad)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a jar place all the dressing ingredients,  adding salt and pepper to taste, then shake well.

Chop up the duck meat, discarding all skin, bones and fat.  Toss the duck meat with half the dressing.

Arrange the sliced snow peas, mangoes, avocados, capsicum, spring onions, baby spinach, mint, coriander and bean sprouts on a big platter.  Add the duck and toss everything together with remaining dressing.

Posted in Entertaining, Salad | Leave a comment

Plum And Hazelnut Crostata

March 11, 2012

One of my most loved cookbooks is Belinda Jeffery’s ‘Mix & Bake’.  It is quite well worn and tattered but very much loved and I’m slowly working my way through all the recipes.  One recipe that I have been eyeing off for sometime was this one for Plum and Hazelnut Crostata.  With plums so good at the moment I’m trying to cram in as many plum recipes before it is all over for another year.

Other crostatas I’ve made have a frangipane filling but this one is just sprinkling a dry mix of finely chopped hazelnuts, sugar, flour and cinnamon on the base then arranging plum slices over the top.  I wasn’t sure how it would work but it sucked up all the plum juices as they cooked and kept the pastry unbelievably crisp.  Such a simple recipe that works perfectly.

I made half the quantity and made a smaller crostata for our dessert and it was a good size.  The original recipe says it serves 8-10 people but even if I had to feed that many people for dessert, two crostatas would work better.  Easier to fit on a baking tray and quicker to cook.

plum and hazelnut crostata

(adapted from Belinda Jeffery’s recipe in ‘Mix & Bake’)

2 tablespoons roasted hazelnuts, finely chopped
2 tablespoons castor sugar
2 tablespoons plain flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
500g just ripe plums
extra castor sugar for sprinkling

shortcrust pastry

3/4 cup plain flour
pinch of salt
60g unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
2 tablespoons of iced water

Place flour, salt and butter in the bowl of a food processor and blitz until it resembles breadcrumbs.  With processor still running, pour in the iced water.  When the pastry starts to form a ball stop the processor, tip out the dough and form it into a disc.  Wrap in plastic and pop in the fridge to rest for 40 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.  Line the base of a baking tray.

Unwrap the pastry and roll out on a lightly floured bench to form a thin circle. Place the circle on the prepared tray.

In a small bowl mix together the hazelnuts, sugar, flour and cinnamon and spread this on the pastry circle leaving a 5cm border.  Arrange the plum slices, overlapping  in concentric circles.  Fold the border gently over the plums and sprinkle the extra sugar over the plums and a little on the pastry.  Bake for 30 – 40 minutes or until the plums have collapsed a little and the pastry golden brown.  Serve with whipped cream or double cream.

Posted in Baking, Dessert, Entertaining, Tarts | Leave a comment

Coconut Fish With Cucumber Salad

March 4, 2012

The last month or two have been eventful for Joel and me, with so many opportunities and the odd hurdle come our way.  It makes for an enriching and interesting time. Our new house we are having built is finally taking shape and we had our first walk through on Friday.  It was incredible to stand in my kitchen and take in the view I will have everyday  from the kitchen island.  I have planned this house so thoroughly that I can stand in the empty frame and visualise where everything will go – from the cookbooks, the big family calender and even where the Christmas tree will go in about 8 months time.

The icing on the cake this week was that I got my dream job.  After many productive years of being a stay at home mum, and I mean years, the perfect job came up and I just had to apply.  It is to be the Kitchen Specialist within the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program for our local school.

Stephanie Alexander is food royalty and I am beyond excited that this opportunity has come my way.  I know this humble little food blog helped advance my bid for the position so I am very grateful I just started it.  I didn’t know if anyone would read it but it wasn’t the point.  At first it was just out of pure enjoyment to put pen to paper, so to speak, and rant about something I’m so passionate about.  But lately I am spurred on by people just relating back to me and telling me their favourite recipes or telling me what they cooked from Tea For Six and how their kids gobbled it up.

Enough of my soliloquy, and more about this sublime Coconut Fish with Cucumber Salad.  It is based on a very simple Bill Granger recipe from his book ‘Bill’s Open Kitchen’ but I added a bit more of a hit to the salad by way of garlic, ground coriander root and tamarind.  If you aren’t a confident fish cooker then this recipe for poaching a fillet of fish is an easy technique to learn.  The most basic method would be steaming or pan frying a fillet of fish but with poaching you are less likely to really dry out the fish if it is overcooked so it is more forgiving.

Once the fillets are cooked it is a delicate procedure to lift them out of the poaching liquid and onto the mounds of rice on each plate without them flaking and falling apart.  But that is why you mound the salad right on top as it hides any imperfections!

For the kids I gave them a scoop of rice topped with the fish and half a lime to squeeze over.  Some of them had a spoonful or two of the poaching liquid drizzled over for the rice to suck up.  Then they helped themselves to the undressed salad, some more enthusiastically then others.  Joel and I had rice with generous spoonfuls of poaching liquid, the fish and the remainder of the salad which I tossed with the spicy dressing.

It was incredible.  The fish was so delicate and the salad was so lively.  The contrast of textures and flavours makes this dish a recipe truly worth trying.

coconut fish with cucumber salad

(based on a Bill Granger recipe from ‘Bill’s Open Kitchen’)

4 x 175g fillets of firm white fish eg. snapper or barramundi
250ml chicken stock
1 x 400ml tin of coconut milk
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon caster sugar
3 kaffir lime leaves
1 stalk of lemongrass, bruised (bash it few times with a pestle)
1 small red chilli, sliced in half length ways
steamed rice to serve
extra limes to squeeze over to taste

cucumber salad

1 large chilli, seeded and finely sliced on diagonal
1/2 cup coriander leaves
1/4 cup mint leaves
1/2 red onion, finely sliced
20 snow peas, finely sliced (blanch these first if you prefer but I like them just as they are)
2 Lebanese cucumbers, halved lengthwise and sliced on the diagonal

dressing

1 long red chilli, deseeded and chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
2 coriander roots, scraped and chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice
1 1/2 tablespoons tamarind water

In a large, wide pot place the stock, coconut milk, fish sauce, sugar, lime leaves, lemongrass and chilli.  Bring to the boil and leave for 5 – 10 minutes whilst you get on preparing the salad below.  Then reduce the heat to a very low simmer.  The liquid should just move slightly at a simmer with no bubbles forming.  Gently place the fish in the simmering liquid, half cover the pot with a lid and leave for a few minutes.  You will know the fish is cooked when it can be easily flaked.  Carefully remove the fish.

The poaching liquid can be reduced further by bringing back to the boil for another 5 minutes then strained.  Squeeze a little lime juice in to taste.  I serve the poaching liquid as is because I’m impatient.

For the salad dressing, pound up the chillies, garlic, coriander root and sugar in a mortar with a pestle to a fine paste.  Add fish sauce, lime juice and tamarind water.  Taste and adjust if need be.  Toss this with the salad ingredients in a large bowl.

Serve mounds of steamed rice in shallow bowls.  Drizzle over spoonfuls of the poaching liquid then carefully place the fish on and top with a generous serve of the salad.

Posted in Family Dinner | 9 Comments

Strawberry Granita

February 26, 2012

My ice cream machine has been put to good use lately for weekend desserts.  Vanilla bean ice cream and a chocolate ice cream with chocolate chunks has been our family favourites but Tilly has been requesting a strawberry sorbet.

Last weekend I was reading a liftout in the paper and there was an article on chef Skye Gyngell which prompted me to spend the whole week grabbing every moment I could to read through her cookbooks.  I found this recipe for Strawberry Granita in her book ‘A Year In My Kitchen’ which I thought might make Tilly happy and give the ice cream machine a holiday.

Incredibly simple to make.  Just a simple sugar syrup mixed with the pureed strawberries then poured into a container and into the freezer.  The recipe suggests serving it with a little cream but I really think this needs nothing.  Top with a sliced strawberry or a sprig of mint and it is perfection in a glass.  Tilly was so delighted!

strawberry granita

(a slight variation of recipe in Skye Gyngell’s book ‘A Year In My Kitchen’)

125g caster sugar
250ml water
400g strawberries, hulled
juice of 1/2 lemon

In a small saucepan stir together the sugar and water over a low heat until the sugar is dissolved.  Bring to the boil then turn the heat down to a simmer and let it bubble away for a couple of minutes.  Take off the heat and leave to cool down completely.

Puree the strawberries and the lemon juice and strain through a sieve.  Stir in the cooled sugar syrup then pour into a shallow container and freeze for 2 hours.  Remove from the freezer and drag a fork through the granita to break it up.  Then return to the freezer and leave to freeze until set.

When ready to serve, run a fork through the granita again and scoop into chilled glasses.  Top with a sliced strawberry, a sprig of mint or a drizzle of cream.

Posted in Dessert, Entertaining, Ice Cream, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Ricotta And Tomato Tart

February 24, 2012

I keep a never-ending list of my favourite recipes that I want to share here when I get time.  Unfortunately I am adding to the list more than I am working through the list, so it is always quite satisfying to finally be able to delete recipes.  At the moment the list includes our family’s favourite Greek Chicken Bake, a Zucchini & Feta Tart, a Lemon Pasta and my favourite French Toast recipe, just to name a few.  But one recipe that has been there for the longest time is this one – Ricotta and Tomato Tart.  And today, finally, I am sharing it!

This is a recipe that I think just must be made in Summer when tomatoes are plump and juicy and basil is prolific.  So with only less than a week of Summer left here in the Southern Hemisphere I thought I better get busy and share this recipe before another Summer slips away.

This tart is so easy to make, yet it looks impressive and tastes even better.  It could be whipped up for a quick mid-week meal but I think it best savoured over a chilled glass of Rosé for a weekend Summer lunch.  I have only ever made this tart for weekend lunches because it just seems right.

I pay a pretty penny and get myself some good puff pastry and it is worth it.  My kids aren’t huge puff pasty fans.  It is always a bit hit and miss with them which I just can’t understand.  I trust they will grow out of this phase and grow up to enjoy the flaky, buttery layers in moderation.

The recipe has evolved from one that was in a Delicious magazine years and years ago.  All it requires is to bake the sheet of puff pastry and then top it with the ricotta, halved tomatoes, pesto and bake again.  Then top with some very lightly dressed greens.  I serve it on a big board and slice it at the table.  You could make individual tarts for a smarter affair but one big tart has a beautiful rustic feel.  It is full of flavour but not overly filling so there should be room for a beautiful Summer dessert.

 ricotta and tomato tart

375g block frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, lightly beaten
200g ricotta
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup of pesto
1 punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 big handfuls of baby rocket and spinach
a few basil leaves, roughly torn
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Line a large baking tray.

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to form a 30cm x 22 cm rectangle and place on the baking tray.  Prick the base all over with a fork then brush with the lightly beaten egg.  Bake for 20 minutes or until puffed, golden and cooked through.  Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.

In a bowl mix together the ricotta, garlic and 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice.  Spread this over the cooked pastry and then top with the halved tomatoes  and dollop over the pesto.  Season with salt and pepper then return to the oven for another 5 minutes or until the tomatoes have collapsed slightly.  Set aside to cool slightly.

In a bowl whisk together the remaining lemon juice, olive oil and season to taste.  Toss with the baby rocket, spinach and basil leaves and place on top of the tart just before serving.

Posted in Entertaining, Lunch, Tarts, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Chocolate And Almond Cake

February 10, 2012

My good friend Liz hosted a few mums and toddlers for a Melbourne Cup lunch last year.  A glass of bubbly, chicken salad and scrumptious chocolate and almond mini cakes topped with cream and sweet strawberries – not a bad way to spend a Tuesday.

Marie made the mini chocolate and almond cakes for the lunch and shared the recipe with me.  I have only made the large cake but they can be baked in muffin tins for individual desserts. The cake is flourless and despite the lack of height they are quite light.  My favourite bit is the flecks of finely chopped chocolate throughout.  No chocolate is melted, just finely chopped and mixed through.  It means the cake isn’t dominated by chocolate but each bite is filled with little flecks of chocolate to nibble.

This cake doesn’t suffer if made the day before.  Like any flourless cake they seem to keep better.  Serve with whipped cream, fresh strawberries and a little dust of icing sugar.  It is one incredibly good recipe!

chocolate and almond cake

(from the St John’s Wood and The Gap Parish Cookbook 2004)

200g quality dark chocolate
170g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g unsalted butter
4 eggs, separated
250g almond meal

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C.  Grease and line a 24cm cake tin.

Melt the butter and allow to cool.  Finely chop the chocolate so it is crumbly.

In a bowl whisk the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla until pale and thick.  Fold through the chocolate, melted butter and almond meal.

In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form.  Fold half of the whisked egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold through the remaining egg whites.  Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for 50 – 60 minutes.

Posted in Baking, Cakes, Dessert | Leave a comment

Eton Mess

January 29, 2012

When I watch Wimbledon, my thoughts turn to strawberries and cream.  The same goes if I’m watching The Australian Open.  In fact, whenever I am watching tennis I get a hankering for strawberries and cream.  So after a month of dedicated tennis viewing I have had my fair share, but the ultimate strawberry and cream combination is an Eton Mess.

Eton Mess is my favourite dessert of all time – strawberries, sweetened whipped cream, crumbled meringues and a non-traditional scoop of vanilla ice-cream.  According to Joel and his family, no dessert is complete without the presence of ice-cream, and I have to agree that the inclusion of ice-cream in Eton Mess is a stroke of genius.

I just use a basic Stephanie Alexander meringue recipe and it is enough for our 6 serves of Eton Mess.  All the other elements aren’t specific quantities – just a guideline.  If you use more or less of anything it won’t really matter because this is a recipe that would be hard to stuff up.  Just throw it all in a bowl and curl up for The Australian Open tennis final tonight!

eton mess

2 punnets of strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced
300ml cream
2 tablespoons caster sugar
vanilla ice-cream

meringues

(meringue recipe from Stephanie Alexander’s book ‘The Cooks Companion’)

2 egg whites
120g caster sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 150 degrees C.  Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Whisk the egg whites in a mixer until soft peaks form.  Continue to whisk and gradually add the sugar and whisk until the sugar has dissolved.  Rub a little of the egg whites between your forefinger and thumb to see if the sugar is still grainy.  Mix through the vanilla.

Dollop spoonfuls of the mix onto the baking tray to form 6 meringues.  Bake in the oven for 45 minutes then turn off the oven and open the door just a little and leave to cool.

Whisk the cream with 2 tablespoons of caster sugar until soft peaks form.  Crumble 5 meringues into 6 dessert bowls.  Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, the sliced strawberries and finish with big dollops of the whipped cream.  Crumble over the final meringue over and serve.

Posted in Dessert | 1 Comment

Zucchini And Pesto Pizza

January 27, 2012

My kids love to have routine and order.  They seem to feel comfortable in knowing how our days, weeks and months are organised.  Friday nights are pizza night and have been for many years now.  The kids go through waves where some Friday nights they will demolish every slice in sight, and other times they just pick at one or two pieces.  But when I have broken with tradition and served something else for Friday night dinner there has been protests and possibly even a few tears.

So I continue with the weekly pizza night and trust it is building happy memories of family togetherness eating pizza, watching DVDs, playing boardgames as well as developing fine pizza making skills.  With so many pizzas being churned out I need to experiment with various toppings to keep my interest.  This version with lots of cheese, thinly sliced zucchini then topped with pesto and basil is scrumptious and makes a perfect Summer pizza.

Elliott helped me with last night’s pizzas.  Sprinkling the polenta on the pizza tray, rolling the dough, spooning the tomato sauce over the base and arranging the zucchini slices and bocconcini.  But he still didn’t eat it.  He is a ham and cheese pizza kind of three year old so he ate the kiddie pizzas.

zucchini and pesto pizza

1 pizza base
1 400g tin of tomatoes
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
a handful of grated cheddar cheese
6 – 8 small balls of bocconcini, halved
a handful of grated Parmesan cheese
a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup pesto
fresh basil leaves to serve

Preheat oven to as high as it will go.

Tip the tomatoes into a bowl and add the garlic, oregano, salt and some freshly ground black pepper.  Blitz together with a stick blender or in a food processor until a smooth sauce.  Spoon 4 or 5 tablespoons of the sauce over the pizza base.  You may need more or less depending on the size of the pizza.  If you aren’t making other pizzas then freeze the remaining sauce for another time.

Sprinkle the cheddar cheese over the pizza then place the zucchini slices on top.  Arrange the halved bocconcini over, sprinkle over the Parmesan and drizzle over a little extra virgin olive oil.  Pop in the oven until the base is cooked and the top is golden.

Dollop little spoonfuls of the pesto all over the pizza and top with fresh basil and a little freshly ground black pepper.

Posted in Pizza, Uncategorized, Vegetarian | 6 Comments